


and those unresolved were answered

by slytherbyun



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Doubt, End of Contract, Introspection, M/M, Nostalgia, Post-Canon, Reminiscing, Uncertainty, mentions of ot12
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-06
Updated: 2019-01-06
Packaged: 2019-10-05 13:04:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,644
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17325527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/slytherbyun/pseuds/slytherbyun
Summary: Bottle Message #O112With the end of their 10-year contract dawning on them, Junmyeon is scared of what the future holds for EXO, and if that future involves Yixing.





	and those unresolved were answered

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time joining a ficfest, so I'm very excited. Thank you to the mods for organizing this. I love writing for Sulay.
> 
> To the prompter, I hope I did your prompt justice.
> 
> This was a bit rushed, but I hope you guys like it!

Two days.

 

The whole group was given two days off to spend time together. While the one would be used to just spend time together, the second day was for the actual meeting regarding the fate of their careers with the company. Those in the military were discharged for those two days only to be able to bond and talk with the other members. It was almost the end of their 10-year contract, and EXO promised each other that they would be spending some time together before each member made the decision to either renew their contract with the company, stay together as a group, or make a new plan that would allow them to stay together but get out of the company’s reach (which Sehun jokingly kept proposing to the group).

 

“Hyungs, I missed you!” Sehun went straight up to Junmyeon, Jongdae, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol, hugging the life out of them. They all decided to go back home to the dorm and spend quality time together like the good old days.

 

“Glad to have you back,” Minseok hugs the members, and let them get settled. Jongin and Kyungsoo do the same, with Chanyeol and Kyungsoo exchanging their usual playful banter. Chanyeol and Baekhyun went to put their stuff in their rooms, while Jongdae leaves his bag in the living room and went to catch up with the maknaes.

 

Junmyeon looked around the room--nothing changed that much. With Minseok, Kyungsoo, Jongin, and Sehun left in the dorm, it’s surprising that the dorm was still clean--after all, Minseok wouldn’t want the dorm to be messy, and Kyungsoo would throw them a sock if they wouldn’t clean up. Most of the stuff were still as how they it, and it brings nothing but nostalgia to the leader. He remembered all the family meetings, the late night movie nights, the afternoon gaming sessions…

 

“Junmyeon, you okay?” Minseok snaps him out of his thoughts. When he saw most of the members together again, Junmyeon just couldn’t help but smile.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine,” he reassures Minseok, making his way to his room to leave his bag there.

 

When he got to his room, he saw the big bunny stuffed toy that the members gave him for his birthday a long time ago, the padded coat he bought for the members, and some of his shoes on the floor. As he sat on his bed, Junmyeon couldn’t help but think of how far the group has come; how much they’ve matured, grown, and done for the past ten years.

 

Someone knocks on the door, snapping Junmyeon out of his thoughts and nostalgia.

 

“Who is it?”

 

“It’s Baekhyun, hyung. Yixing-hyung is back.”

 

_ Yixing. _

 

Junmyeon didn’t realize the tears in his eyes were falling when Baekhyun told him that Yixing was back. If he missed someone the most over the course of time, it would have to be his long-time, long-distance boyfriend, Zhang Yixing.

 

“Yixing?” Junmyeon said once more, still not believing the fact that he was here in Korea for real.

 

“Yes hyung! Hurry down now!” Baekhyun said with so much enthusiasm, and when Junmyeon heard footsteps disappearing, he knew the younger went downstairs to spend time with Yixing.

 

How long has it been since Junmyeon last saw Yixing in person? He tries to think when they last saw each other. All he could remember was just seeing him through a computer or a cellphone screen for the longest time. Yixing rarely went to see them whenever he would be in Korea because of so many meeting in the company, and intense refresher courses with Kasper and Mihawk. In the times that he does, they stayed holed up in Yixing’s room, just catching up on what has happened between the two of them. Needless to say, he missed him. Junmyeon missed Yixing so much, that him coming home to Korea will always make him cry.

 

When Junmyeon arrived at the living room, he saw a tired yet smiling Yixing being hugged by Jongin. All the members were gathered around their brother, the brother they haven’t seen for such a long time. Junmyeon never thought this day would come--for them to be reunited once more as a whole group, as OT9, as their fans like to call them.

 

“Junmyeon,” Yixing’s soft voice called out to him, as light as a feather. At this point, all of the members were looking at them, waiting to see what would happen next.

 

“Yixing.”

 

Yixing crossed the distance between them and gave Junmyeon a soft kiss. It was a kiss Junmyeon has been yearning for the longest time--for almost five years apart from each other.

 

When they pulled away, the members were all cheering for them. All Junmyeon could do at that moment was sink into Yixing’s warm embrace, and let the warmth envelop him.

 

Yeah. He missed this. He missed him.

 

~•~•~•~•~

 

“Let’s just spend the day inside the dorm together.”

 

That was Kyungsoo’s initial proposal for the possible last day the group has together. This was so that everyone could just lounge around together, be with each other as comfortably as they could. Their manager left for his own rest day so that the members could spend the day with just them.

 

“Let’s also watch old music videos and some variety show episodes!” Baekhyun chimed in.

 

Everyone was looking to Junmyeon as he had the final say. He was just seated on the sofa beside Yixing, trying to push the thought of the impending meeting tomorrow out of his mind.

 

“Yeah, let’s do it from MAMA to the latest one,” he suggested.

 

Chanyeol stood up to connect the smart TV to YouTube so that they could stream their music videos. Everyone immediately tried to find a seat in the living room, while Kyungsoo, with the help of Jongin, rummaged for chips to munch on.

 

Looking at the members, Junmyeon couldn’t help but feel overwhelmed. Everyone had a scared look written on their faces because of the uncertainty of the future. They all made a deal to not disclose their decision until the night before the meeting. They all wanted to just enjoy the day as much as they can. Even with that intent, everyone was still scared. Junmyeon was scared. Really scared.

 

However, as the leader, he can’t let his fear show. It’s bad enough that he can sense the fear of the members. He wouldn’t want to add to the stress any further.

 

“This is nice, don’t you think?” Yixing whispered to him.

 

“What is?” Junmyeon turned to face Yixing so that he could see him properly.

 

“This. All of us spending time together. Just a lazy day at the dorm without nothing to worry about.”

 

Junmyeon couldn’t help but smile. Over the course of their careers as idols, they rarely had days like these--days to just sit and relax like they had no jobs. Even with everyone wanting to work their hardest to provide good music and good performances, rest days are still greatly welcomed.

 

“Yeah, at least we all just get to stay together, huh?”

 

“Okay!” Chanyeol threw his hands in the air, always the most excited one of the bunch. “Let’s watch!”

 

Everyone settled in their seats, wanting to be comfortable during the whole “film viewing” as Sehun called it a while ago.

 

_ Careless, careless _

_ Shoot anonymous, anonymous _

_ Heartless, mindless _

_ No one who care about me _

 

Chanyeol played their performance of MAMA in the rain. It had a mix of both Korean and Mandarin parts, and was, without a doubt, one of their favorite performances of the song.

 

“Wow, we all look so young!” Jongdae exclaimed from his seat, earning a slap on the arm from Minseok.

 

Everyone was amazed at how they were able to pull of the performance without getting hurt. Chanyeol and Yixing always said that MAMA was ahead of its time, but looking at that stage, Junmyeon knew he wouldn’t ask for a better debut song for the group.

 

When the performance ended, it automatically went to their showcase performance of History. Again, the performance of this song had a mix of both Mandarin and Korean parts, making all the twelve boys perform the song on stage.

 

“How’s Fan-ge, Lu-ge, and Zitao these days?” Jongdae turned to ask Yixing.

 

“I honestly have no contact with them except for Luhan-ge,” Yixing started to explain. “Yifan-ge’s career in America is booming, and Zitao looks okay. Luhan-ge and his wife are both okay.”

 

“Do you guys ever miss them?” Sehun asked the group. Chanyeol paused the playlist, sensing that it’s going to be a serious conversation.

 

Nobody really talked about the three members who left since their departures. Not that it was taboo, but it made coping with the situation easier. When Yifan left, the group was in disarray, and Junmyeon tried to hold everyone together. When Luhan left, it hurt a lot of the members’ feelings because he said he wouldn’t leave them like Yifan did. Zitao’s departure was the easiest to handle because Tao explained the situation to the whole group, and even when they didn’t want him to go, they knew he had to leave for his own growth and development.

 

“I do,” Junmyeon broke the silence. “Very much so.”

 

“I do too,” Minseok said as well.

 

“I do,” Yixing confessed. Out of the nine of them, Yixing was the one who was most reluctant to talk about the Chinese members who left, and Junmyeon wasn’t sure how this conversation would go.

 

“I miss them,” Yixing continued, “but they’re happy. That’s what matters. They became amazing artists and we all developed here as well.”

 

“They do seem happy,” Baekhyun pointed out. “That’s all we ever wanted for each other since we started out, right?”

 

“Yeah,” Sehun said with a smile on his face.

 

Everyone settled back into their seats as Chanyeol played Wolf next. Jongin couldn’t help but laugh at how intense the music video for Wolf was. Minseok pointed out his colored nails, leading everyone to rewind that part and look at them again. When Jongdae and Baekhyun hit their high notes, Sehun and Chanyeol tried to imitate it, failing miserably, earning bursts of laughter from everyone.

 

When the music video finished, Growl played next.

 

Everyone couldn’t take their eyes off of the screen because Growl was  _ that  _ song. It was the song that put EXO on the map, and catapulted them to success. A lot of people made dance covers of Growl, and it became somewhat of a staple song for trainees to learn.

 

“Eureurong really hit it big, huh?” Kyungsoo commented off-handly.

 

Jongin just smiled at his boyfriend. “It was the start of the crazy ride.”

 

Junmyeon couldn’t help but get a bit teary-eyed. Even when Wolf was the song that got them their first win, Growl was the song that took over KPop by storm. After being dubbed as SM’s biggest failure, he took the mean comments to heart, and wanted to prove their critics wrong. They were able to do that with Growl, and to quote Jongin, it was the start of the crazy ride.

 

“Three minutes and one second!” Chanyeol suddenly screamed, making Junmyeon go back to reality. Everyone was laughing because even up to this day, Chanyeol holds that nickname close to his heart.

 

Before the next music video could play, Chanyeol paused the playlist to go to the bathroom. The other members went up to get more food and drinks. Junmyeon and Yixing just stayed seated beside each other.

 

“It’s really been that long,” Junmyeon said, snuggling closer to Yixing.

 

“Yeah,” Yixing replied, not even sparing Junmyeon a glance.

 

“Xing, is something wrong?”

 

“Nothing, Junmyeon. I’m fine,” he said, flashing his famous smile with his dimple showing.

 

_ Everything is not fine _ .

 

~•~•~•~•~

 

As they continue playing music videos, Junmyeon became more and more uneasy. They played Miracles in December, Overdose, Call Me Baby, Love Me Right, Sing For You, Lucky One, Lotto, and even Lose Control and Sheep. The group was really supportive of Yixing’s solo endeavors, and Jongdae and Baekhyun even danced along to Sheep. Everyone was busy reminiscing and having fun, but all Junmyeon could think about was Yixing.

 

Monster was currently playing, and everyone was excited. Hands down, this is one of the group’s favorite title tracks, and was loved by fans even up to this day. They had fun shooting the video, and promoting with it. Even with the nostalgia hitting however, Junmyeon could feel the tension between him and Yixing. After playing Lose Control, there was something different with his boyfriend. He couldn’t put his finger on it, but he knew something was wrong. As Monster kept playing, the stiffer Yixing seemed to feel beside Junmyeon, and this terrified him.

 

He didn’t tell anyone, but one of the things that greatly bothered him was Yixing’s decision. And with how he was acting right now, Junmyeon’s fears just became more evident.

 

When For Life played, he remembered how Yixing promised to have the members sing this song if ever they get married. It was Junmyeon’s personal favorite because it spoke of promises that a couple made to each other that they vowed to keep for life. These were promises Junmyeon would keep for a lifetime with Yixing. As the song was playing, he felt Yixing’s arm snake around Junmyeon’s wait, pulling him closer. Yixing was still tense, but the comfort of his warmth was enough for Junmyeon to breathe a little sigh of relief.

 

The relief didn’t last very long because as the song was ending, Yixing pulled his arm away, and started checking his phone.

 

~•~•~•~•~

  
  


Junmyeon knew Kokobop would play next.

 

This was the first music video of the group without Yixing.

 

While the video was playing, Junmyeon couldn’t help but look at Yixing. There were tears threatening to fall, because this was the start of the years Yixing was away from EXO. Even when they fought hard for him to be in the comeback with them, at the time, it wasn’t possible.

 

The rest of the members were oblivious to Yixing crying silently, with the members enjoying their first rated music video (which was definitely because of the “candy” and Jongin’s abs). Before the video could end, Yixing hastily wiped the tears away so as to not let the members know he was crying. Junmyeon caught it though, but didn’t want to say anything.

 

“I put the Olympics performance of Power in the playlist instead of the music video,” Chanyeol informed the group when the music video for Kokobop ended. Everyone was ecstatic, since the Olympics performance was one of the most memorable experiences the group has had. However, it made Junmyeon feel more tense--this was a highlight in their career, but they were only able to do it as 8 members, not 9. Yixing stiffened once more, still feeling a bit tense and uneasy. No matter how much this performance meant to the majority of the members, this performance put a strain on Yixing’s relationship with the members, and it was observable on Yixing’s behavior.

 

After Power and Universe, Chanyeol played “Namanana”. Everyone was enthusiastic about the video, and even sang along to the lyrics. Baekhyun and Minseok knew the song by heart, and Jongin and Sehun were familiar with the choreography. Junmyeon was bopping and hyping up his boyfriend, who was singing along and dancing to the beat as well. He was relieved that Yixing let loose a bit, but even as he was dancing, the uneasiness was still there.

 

As the rest of the music videos played on, the whole group was just happy and nostalgic. No matter what happened, even with all the challenges and obstacles they faced, no one could deny the fact that EXO really achieved a lot.

 

The sad thing was they achieved most of these things with one member not by their side.

 

~•~•~•~•~

 

With the members gathered in the living room, each of them would say what their decision would be for tomorrow. This way, there would be no surprises for all of them, and they would be already prepared for what’s going to happen. All of them have accepted that some might decide to go, and some might decide to stay. Whatever happens, they want to be there for each other no matter what.

 

“I just want to stay together,” Baekhyun immediately said, trying to keep his voice from cracking. “I can’t imagine a path in this industry without any of you--without all of you. I hope that we all stay together, even if it means that we can’t escape the company.”

 

“I agree with Baekhyun,” Chanyeol raised his hand. “I want to stay together.”

 

“So do I,” Minseok said, already crying. “You guys have been my family for such a long time, and I want to spend a long time with all of you.”

 

“I want to be with EXO forever,” Jongdae simply told the members. “It’s EXO or nothing for me, and I only want to continue in this industry with you guys.”

 

“I feel the same way,” Kyungsoo said. “Even with my acting career, I still can’t imagine a life without EXO, without you guys.”

 

“I’m staying with EXO,” Jongin simply said. “Same with Jongdae-hyung, it’s EXO or nothing.”

 

“I want to stay with all of you,” Sehun said softly. “We’ve been through so much, and if anything, I want to continue on this journey with EXO.”

 

Hearing all of them say that they want to stay together, Junmyeon felt somewhat at peace. He was worried that some of them would want to go solo or stop being an idol, but what amazed him was the brotherhood that they formed. Everyone wanted to stay together.

 

Yixing hasn’t said a thing.

 

Everyone looked at Yixing. With their time apart, everyone was nervous what Yixing would decide, most especially since he already had a taste of a career path without the others. He’s a big name in China, and one of the most respectable artists they have. He also succeeded with his US debut, and is gaining more fans each day.

 

Everyone was uneasy. Junmyeon felt uneasy.

 

Junmyeon couldn’t imagine a life without Yixing, let alone an EXO without Yixing. Circumstances may not be in their favor, but he knew that if Yixing wouldn’t continue with the group, it would still be difficult staying together. It would be a repeat of 2014-2015, only this time, Junmyeon couldn’t escape the hurt and the pain because it would hurt not only the group, but also his personal relationship with Yixing.

 

“Yixing…” he prompted his boyfriend to say something. His hands were already shaking from the nerves he was feeling, scared of what he would say. “Please, say something.”

 

Yixing sat up straight and looked to his members. “I’m not going to lie,” he started to say, “I considered leaving countless of times.”

 

Junmyeon’s heart broke. He knew that Yixing felt left out because he wasn’t always there, but he never imagined that his boyfriend actually considered leaving the group. Yixing was an integral part of EXO, even if not many people acknowledge it. Having EXO without Yixing is impossible.

 

“It’s not because I don’t want to be with all of you. I love all of you so much, and I want to be with EXO forever. It’s because I can’t be here all the time. I thought it was unfair for me to carry the name of EXO but I’m not even active. I haven’t been in a music video with all of you for so long, and the last time I was, I only had one line in the Chinese version. It would be unfair to all of you.”

 

“But hyung--”

 

“Let me finish, Baekhyun,” Yixing said. “I considered leaving, but I will never leave the group as long as you’ll have me.”

 

At that moment, Junmyeon let go and let the tears fall. Yixing held him tighter, stroking his hand with his thumb, and wiped away the tears falling from his eyes. “I could never leave you, especially you Junmyeon. If you’ll allow me to stay, I’ll stay.”

 

Junmyeon let a sigh of relief go. “Then I guess, we’re all staying together.

 

~•~•~•~•~

 

Today was D-Day.

Over the years, they have already proved themselves not only to the KPop industry, but to the whole world. They were once dubbed as SM’s biggest failure, but now a 10-million seller group. They have performed at the Olympics, have gotten commemorative medals for their successes, have been played at the fountain in Dubai, have sold more than a million of copies of their albums every year. They have done that, and more. Nothing was stopping them. Nothing was supposed to stop them.

They have gotten older, and have changed in many ways. Ten years is long, and a lot has happened during those times. Relationships were formed, interests were found, people come and go, and priorities changed. Even during those times, the priority of everyone was supposed to be the group. However, no one expected that one of them would work on his solo career away from everyone.

They all knew it was a few tough years for everyone, especially for Yixing who had to leave the boys and focus on building his career in China. Everyone has been apart for so long, and it was difficult to predict if everyone would stay together.

 

EXO-Ls all over the world were anxious to see if there would be any changes with EXO. Will they be like Super Junior? Would they be like Girls’ Generation? Or would they be like other groups who disbanded over the years?

 

A news article came out from Soompi, and the fans all over the world were delighted with the news.

 

**_BREAKING: EXO decides to re-sign with SM Entertainment, says that all nine members would be staying together._ **

 


End file.
